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Ukraine’s unstoppable march toward Europe

Most Ukrainians have had enough of Viktor Yanukovych's corruption. They want the civil liberties and human rights of other Europeans.

Ukrainians continue to protest in Kyiv on Tuesday against the corruption and nepotism of Viktor Yanukovych’s regime. (Rob Stothard / GETTY IMAGES)

By Lubomyr Luciuk

Wed., Jan. 29, 2014

As I write this, it’s -10 C in Kingston but it feels like -21 C.

In Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, it’s -12 C but feels more like -20 C.

I’m sitting in the comfort of my study. My good friends in the Euromaidan (anti-government demonstrations) aren’t anywhere near as snug. Yet they endure not only cold but brutality because for them Ukraine always was, is and forever must be a European nation.

This is not simply a question of geopolitics. It’s cultural. Most Ukrainians want to live like other Europeans, in a society where civil liberties and human rights are respected, where democracy and the rule of law prevail. They have had enough of the corruption and nepotism of Viktor Yanukovych’s regime.

Overwhelmingly in 1991, they voted for Ukraine’s independence. And in 2004, they came out in the millions for the Orange Revolution, protesting a fraudulent election, hoping democracy would take root in Ukraine. Their leaders betrayed them, proving to be only somewhat less debased but certainly no less venal than the man they removed, Viktor Yanukovych.

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He returned in 2010. Since then Yanukovych and “the family” surrounding him have battened off the riches of the land — today Oleksandr, the president’s eldest son, is a multimillionaire, the “king of coal,” a remarkable achievement for a 40-year-old dentist. Think of this as the “golden calf” stage in modern Ukrainian history. It won’t last much longer.

Indeed what we are witnessing now is the first step in Ukraine’s painful return to Europe. Colour this stage a cowardly yellow because President Yanukovych is increasingly nervous about the masses occupying Ukraine’s public spaces. Since fear is a poor counsellor, the Kremlin’s man in Kyiv has deployed thugs and snipers to do his dirty work, beating journalists and murdering protesters.

It hasn’t worked. Watch the YouTube video of Mikhailo Zhyznevsky’s casket being carried through the Euromaidan. Yanukovych’s hired hands shot him off the barricades. Yet the nation was not cowed. The crowds stand firm, shouting “Heroes never die!” There will be more heroes before this all ends.

My students have often asked why Ukraine is taking so long to return to Europe. For me an answer, and solace too, can be found in the Bible. Reading Exodus one learns how Moses led his people out of Egyptian bondage into the desert, where they wandered for 40 years before reaching the promised land of milk and honey. No one who began that odyssey made it for they were all overburdened with the doubting, fearful and indecisive mentality of slaves. Even Moses could only look down from the mountain, taking comfort in seeing that his people had at last arrived.

I fear Ukrainians will yet wander in an anarchical wilderness for another decade, perhaps longer, and may even be tested in the holocaust of a real revolution before they return to Europe. They will get there, eventually. Of that I have no doubt. But I do wish Ukraine had its own Moses now.

As for my colleagues in the Euromaidan, it’s evident they represent a new generation: men and women not reared as Soviet vassals. Being European is the only norm they aspire to. They have no intention of wearing the yoke of subservience. They leave that for Yanukovych and his ilk.

When they began their demonstrations in late November 2013, Kyiv’s protesters were shouting “Out with the bandits!” Now they are calling for “Revolution!” Their movement has spread far beyond Kyiv’s Euromaidan. Uprisings are taking place across Ukraine, including eastern Ukraine.

To understand what is coming next recall a nursery rhyme from your childhood. Remember how Humpty Dumpty had a great fall? The next line is: “All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.” That’s what’s happening in Ukraine today. Yanukovych has fallen. He’s cracked.

What my friends in the Euromaidan have sparked is now unstoppable. So I say “Godspeed” to them.

Lubomyr Luciuk is a professor of political geography at the Royal Military College of Canada.

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